Mr Suleiman was so key to Nigeria’s counter-terrorism
efforts that his deployments for services abroad, for instance in Darfur and
Washington, were repeatedly cancelled and, in another case, he was recalled
from Command and Staff College, Jaji, as directing staff, to help track a
globally wanted terrorist, Adam Kambar.
He initiated the creation of the Civilian Joint Task Force
(CJTF) and controlled their activities in Borno State, before collaborating
with 3rd Division of the Army to have Civilian JTF in Adamawa State. He was key
to the “arrest of and appropriate provision of information on the first
successfully prosecuted Boko Haram pioneer spokesman, Umar Sanda Kodunga.”
Even before Boko Haram gained notoriety and when they were
covertly building a base in Bauchi, he was responsible for “discovering,
penetrating and profiling” the group. In 2009, he led the joint army/police
team that cleared and arrested “377 terrorists with scores killed with no
casualty to own troops.”
All these about Mr Suleiman were documented in his official
service records with the Nigerian Army. However, for four years, he has been up
in a legal battle with the military after he and 37 other senior officers were
forcibly and illegally removed from service.
In separate judgements, Mr Suleiman and five of the affected
officers have won the cases they initiated to challenge their forced retirement
by the military authorities. In ordering their reinstatement, the National
Industrial Court has six times held that the military acted unlawfully. PREMIUM
TIMES has repeatedly called the
attention of the Buhari government to this matter. But authorities have
continued to ignore the court and its decisions.
It is one of Nigeria’s worst cases of arbitrariness,
disregard for the court and shabby treatment of her heroes.
One of the officers, Ojebo Ochankpa, died in 2017 while
awaiting justice. Their statutory appeal for redress to President Muhammadu
within 30 days of their sack, and other letters subsequently, have neither been
acknowledged nor replied to.
THE ILLEGAL COMPULSORY RETIREMENT
On June 9, 2016, each of the 38 officers woke to an army
letter by email. They had been compulsorily retired from service.
“It was absolutely unexpected as I had not gone through any disciplinary process,” said Abdulfatai Mohammed, then a Lt. Colonel, and one of the 38 affected officers. “I was never queried, nor was there any indictment.”
In the letters, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, to the affected
officers, their compulsory retirement was hinged on “provisions of Paragraph
09.02c (4) of the Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers 2012
(Revised)”.
The referenced section – 09.02c (4) – of the Harmonised
Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers 2012 (Revised), shows the officers
were laid off “on disciplinary grounds i.e. serious offence(s)”.
Emphasizing “service exigencies” and that the “military must
remain apolitical and professional at all times,” then army spokesperson, Sani
Usman, now a retired brigadier-general, on June 10, 2016, released a statement,
disclosing what could have constituted the “serious offences” which warranted
the 38 officers to be compulsorily retired.
“It should be recalled that not too long ago some officers
were investigated for being partisan during the 2015 general elections,” the
statement then read. “Similarly, the investigation by the Presidential
Committee investigating Defence Contracts revealed a lot. Some officers have
already been arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC).”
However, contrary to the claim by the army, our
investigations showed that only a few of the affected officers were queried,
tried and indicted.
Others, like Mr Suleiman and Mr Mohammed, had their careers abruptly cut short for reasons that smacked of high-level arbitrariness, pettiness, witch-hunting and partisanship by authorities of the Army.
While officers cleared by either arms procurement panel or election panel were retired, others who were not questioned at all were also sent away.
Highly placed sources in the army told PREMIUM TIMES that of
the major generals affected, only one – E.D. Atewe (N/7674) – faced a panel and
was indicted. Mr Atewe was indicted by the presidential arms probe panel, and
he is currently being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission.
Although S.D. Aliyu (N/7711); M.Y. Aliyu (N/8114) GOC 7 Division; Fatai Alli, (N/7914) a former Director of Operations in the Army, also faced the presidential arms panel, they were cleared. Yet they were laid off for “serious offence”, the army claimed.
Five other Major Generals – L. Wiwa (N/7665), who is the
late Ken Saro-Wiwa’s brother; Nwokoro Ijeoma (N/8304) whose reinstatement was
ordered by the industrial court last year; T.C Ude (N/7866); L.C. Ilo (N/8320);
O. Ejemau (N/8340) were neither queried nor indicted by any panel.
Brigadier Generals sacked because of suspected loyalties
The cases of the affected brigadier generals were not
different; only one of them – A.I Onibasa (N/9072), was indicted by the
presidential panel on arms procurement. Sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the
remaining 10 brigadiers were simply retired because they were suspected to be
have failed to help the Buhari regime to power in 2015.
For instance, two officers were laid off because of their
ties to the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, our sources said.
The two officers – A.S.H. Sa’ad (N/8392), who was at the
Directorate of Military Intelligence; and Mormoni Bashir (N/8396), former
principal staff officer to Mr Dasuki – were retired without indictment.
Although, Mr. Sa’ad faced a panel, he was not found to have engaged in any
wrongdoing.
For his alleged close ties to a former Army Chief, Kenneth Minimah, D. Abdulsalam (N/9169) was sent away.
Koko Essien (N/8794), a former Brigade Commander, 2 Brigade,
Port Harcourt, faced the election panel but was cleared. Mr Essien was laid off
nonetheless. Just like Bright Fibioinumana (N/8399); L.N. Bello (N/8799),
former Brigade Commander, 34 Brigade Owerri; and M.G. Alli Moundhey, former
Director, Campaign Planning in the North East Operations, who were even not
queried in the first place.
Although the Nigerian Army said the affected officers were
retired for either involvement in the 2015 general elections or arms
procurement fraud, our investigations showed that officers who were not in
Nigeria at the time of the elections were also sacked.
That was the case of I.B. Lawson (N/8812) and G.O. Agachi
(N/9363) who were Defence Attaches at Nigeria’s missions in China and Benin
Republic respectively.
“They aided PDP to get votes”
Many Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels who were laid off on
this day four years ago were merely suspected of failing to cooperate with the
All Progressives Congress to garner votes in the 2015 elections, sources told
PREMIUM TIMES.
In one instance, T.A Williams (N/11469) a Major; and
Abdulfatai Mohammed (N/10659), a Lieutenant Colonel, both attached to the 195
Battalion, Agenebode, Edo State, with the latter as Commanding Officer, were
said to have been flushed out because of complaint of not cooperating with Mr
Buhari’s APC, brought against them.
But according to documents seen by this newspaper, Mr
Mohammed was in the North East fighting Boko Haram, not Agenebode. But somehow
his name was among those listed for alleged partisanship.
Similarly, in Rivers State, army insiders said, APC
officials accused four officers attached to the 332 Air Defence Regiment (Ojebo
Ochanpa – N/10417 who died while awaiting justice in 2017) and; 5 Battalion,
Elele (A.S. Mohammed -N10662); 2 Brigade Garrison, Port Harcourt (A.Adimoha –
N/10421); 29 Battalion Port Harcourt (T.O. Oladuntoye (N/10338) of aiding the
PDP in the state.
Our findings revealed that these officers, accused of
partisanship, were not queried or investigated before they were forced out of
the army. The former Commanding Officer, 93 Battalion, Takum, O.C. Egemole
(N/10423), who was also compulsorily retired, was also accused of “not doing
enough” to avert APC loss in Taraba State. He was also neither queried nor
investigated.
Seven colonels, including Mr Suleiman (who had helped foiled
Boko Haram attack on President Buhari’s Aso Rock home) who were compulsorily retired,
had no query issued to them nor were they made to face any panel before they
were fired.
For instance O.U. Nwankwo (N/9678) was studying at the
University of Ibadan at the time of his ouster.
Also, without probe or indictment for any offence, T.
Minimah (N/10185), brother to former Army Chief, Kenneth Minimah, was also
removed from his post in Benin and retired.
Lawless army
PREMIUM TIMES checks indicate the army violated its own
rules in the ways the officers were disengaged.
The Harmonized Terms and Conditions of Service for Officers
whose paragraph 09.02c (4) was relied upon to remove the officers, originates
from the Armed Forces Act. The section cited by the Army provides that an
officer may be compulsorily retired “on disciplinary grounds i.e. serious
offence(s)” without defining what constitutes “serious offences”.
But the principal law – the Armed Forces Act – establishes
all actions that constitute offences in the Military. The Act prescribes steps
to be taken in punishing offences, and a review shows no section empowers the
Army Council to arbitrarily punish or compulsorily retire officers for any
offence. In fact, the Army Council, in Section 11(a-f) of the Act, has no power
to retire any officer on disciplinary ground without compliance with the steps
prescribed by law.
Petitions to President Buhari
In line with Paragraph 09.02(e) of the Harmonised Terms and
Conditions of Service for Officers, many of the affected officers, including Mr
Mohammed and Mr Suleiman, petitioned Mr Buhari within 30 days of their sack for
administrative review.
“I want to respectfully state that I was not in any way involved in any of the two issues stated as reasons for compulsory retirement of 38 officers of which I was among,” Mr Mohammed, wrote in his appeal.” I was never investigated at any time and have not committed any serious offence.”This was the ground of appeal of his colleagues, who also petitioned Mr Buhari.
They also subsequently separately wrote the president and
once asked him to prove his integrity. None of the letters was acknowledged or
replied to by the president. But it is alleged that the Chief of Defence Staff,
Gabriel Olonisakin, who has the lawful responsibility to transmit the officers’
petitions to the president is blocking the appeals. He has refused to show
evidence of transmitting the petitions to the industrial court and he now risks
a jail term for that.
Military continues to lose in court; Buhari won’t act
Apart from petitioning Mr Buhari as required by law, many of
the officers also approached the industrial court for justice. Six of them have
now gotten favourable judgements with judges faulting the military.
“The compulsory retirement of the claimant is wrongful,
unconstitutional, null and void,” Justice Rakiya Haastrup of the industrial
court said in her January 14 judgement in the case initiated by Mr Mohammed at
the headquarters of the industrial court in Abuja, adding: “the defendants failed
to act with respect to the law.”
Apart from Mr Mohammed and Mr Suleiman, four others, namely
Mr Ijeoma, a Maj. General; Danladi Hassan, a colonel; Thomas Arigbe, a Colonel;
and DB Danzang have also got judgements ordering the army to reinstate them.
There has not been compliance, nor have the authorities appealed yet.
Both the defence spokesperson, John Enenche, a Maj. General,
and army spokesperson, Sagir Musa, Colonel, did not reply messages seeking
comments for this report. They also did not answer calls to their telephones.
But in the wake of the defeat the army suffered in the case of Mr Mohammed in January, Mr Musa had said, “It is a legal matter,” and declined further comment when contacted by PREMIUM TIMES.
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